MarjannaS
God does NOT complicate things. That’s the devil’s job, and he does it well.
AMEN!
There seems to be a harmony in sacred music that corresponds to the harmony I would suppose to exist in the mind of God, that same harmony that God blesses us with in our own moments of meditation and connection with Him.
The reason dissonant music does not lift us up … is that because it is really the devil pushing us down? We know the 20th Century was a great century for the devil in many different ways.
Hi Charlemagne!
If you think the 20th Century was great for the devil, hold onto your hat during the 21st!!! One can hardly hear even thunder because of the noise! And God’s loving whisper is so hard to hear – you really HAVE to be paying attention to it.
I have been a member of the NAPM, and have been a choir member since my early childhood. Singing (with my God-given rich alto voice) gave me pleasure and balance and more fulfillment than anything else. Later I became the organist in my parish, which only recently I had to give up (Father would simply NOT build an elevator for me, and my arthritis made it impossible for me to fly up to the loft anymore.) I felt that God had given me a most wonderful blessing in the music. I offered my poor talents (and they ARE poor) simply because He had given them to me to use. So, I gave Him my use of them as worship, and He in turn, gave me more blessings and joy because of their use! What a wonderful “exchange”! I often wondered if even GOD could understand how much joy and pleasure He gave me in the music, and how much absolute joy it gave me to be able to give it back to Him. I would slip into the dark, quiet church, and simply “play for Him”. What unutterable joy. And even since “retiring”, with my rich alto demoted to a raspy squawk, my heart is STILL full of the joy of raising my inner self in song to my God.
As I get older, I tend to RECOGNIZE the Devil more easily. We have (our society) made him an object of ridicule and laughter, but I know that HE is not laughing. He figures to have the last laugh, and that will be at US. The constant noise, those New Age rock ‘hymns’ that purport to offer worship and somehow miss the theological boat, the absence of the traditional and stirring spiritual hymns which have elevated souls for so long already, – these are his doing.
Somebody commented way back about “Catholic Music” versus “Non-Catholic Hymns”, and I would say there should be no divisions there. IF THE MUSIC raises the heart, mind and consciousness to the Heavenly Father, and IF the theology is correct to our faith, does is really matter if the tune was written by a non-catholic? I have effectively used “In the Garden” as a communion meditation, and at an evening service, closed with “Sweet Hour of Prayer”, which smoothly raised hearts to the Lord. Our Liturgies, our “Work of Worship” must be very carefully planned to direct hearts toward God. Sometimes we tend to want to make of ALL our music a ‘performance’ and forget that it loses something then, because it’s not for the Glory of God, but for the glory of the musician.
I like your comment about the harmony of the mind of God. God is perfect harmony and that may be WHY music even exists. If that harmony is given sound, it becomes music. I feel quite sure that those eternal “CHOIRS OF ANGELS” ain’t just chatting! They have their angel-voices lifted to God in magnificent harmony, giving Him worship and glory.
Again, make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Peace, love and harmony to you.
I actually think that not all heavy metal music is hellish, but it certainly doesn’t lift one’s spirit to heavenly verities. Some of it brings the soul to the brink of the existential self where the only rational choice is God–eternal life–or satan–eternal death. It seems that many who listen to the pounding rhythms, grating guitars and hellish vocals actually take on the garb of nihilism in their taste for clothing, and artifacts, although most Gothic styles are just passages into adulthood for early teens.
) If I had the time, I’d take period dancing lessons because I’m an 18th c. reenactor and we sometimes have outside dances in the evenings by firelight after the battle events and all the “modern” people and things go away. I’d really love to learn a sarabande.